The Astonishing Power of a Thousand-Year Soul Skill and Divine Mastery of Both Hands

Tang Shan activated his Martial Soul. As his body rapidly swelled, abundant power surged through every limb and bone.

Though he had grown a full size larger, Tang Shan did not rush. He first entered a cultivation state and restored his Soul Power to its peak. Only then did he follow the faint pull he sensed and draw the nearby Purple Soul Ring toward him.

"The key to absorbing a Soul Ring is to thoroughly refine the energy pouring into your body. If you can't refine it fast enough, it may strike your body and damage your meridians. At worst, the energy will run wild and make you explode."

Recalling what Su Haichao had taught him about absorbing Soul Rings, Tang Shan waited calmly.

The Purple Soul Ring slowly separated from the Thousand Jun Ant and floated above Tang Shan's head before swiftly descending.

Scalding energy flooded his body and began to rampage through it.

Fortunately, Tang Shan was prepared. He drew streams of pure Soul Power from his dantian, wrapped them around the incoming heat, and circulated them through his meridians.

After one full cycle, part of the heat dissipated, and his Soul Power grew stronger.

But refining it was still too slow. Most of the energy from the Soul Ring continued to crash wildly through his body.

Now his formidable physique proved its worth. The energy raged, yet caused him no harm.

His Soul Power kept circulating, furiously refining the Soul Ring's energy.

At that moment, Tang Shan understood more clearly how important a good cultivation method was.

The basic method he had obtained from Spirit Hall could circulate energy through only two meridians. Even though it could carry more of the Soul Ring's energy, its limited route imposed a hard ceiling on his refining speed.

With a better method, he could refine Soul Power faster. Even someone whose physique fell short would only have to endure the impact for a while before completely absorbing the foreign energy.

In other words, even a modest improvement from a good method could, to some extent, let a person absorb a Soul Ring beyond the usual age limit.

Tang Shan's thoughts wandered briefly. Then he focused inward again and continued his breakthrough.

Fortunately, my body is strong enough. Even with a much poorer method, I can withstand the energy's impact and gradually absorb this Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

He gathered his thoughts and focused his will. As he circulated his Soul Power, only one idea remained in his mind: control over his strength.

An invisible bottleneck quietly broke. His compressed Soul Power suddenly expanded. Though its quality fell sharply, his Soul Power Level rose rapidly.

Crack, crack!

Soul Power nourished his flesh and tempered his body. His unseen Martial Soul fused further with him, while his Martial Soul Origin strengthened and grew.

Once the bottleneck broke, his refining speed increased again. Roughly another hour passed before he completely absorbed the Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

"What a steady state."

Su Yuan had watched the entire breakthrough. After Tang Shan drew the Thousand-Year Soul Ring into his body, he had merely swayed a little before bearing its energy with ease. Su Yuan could not help voicing his amazement.

At this rate, Tang Shan could probably have absorbed not just a Thousand Jun Ant over a thousand years old, but perhaps even one that was two thousand years old.

Su Yuntao felt inferior too. Had he been this composed when absorbing his First Soul Ring?

After thinking carefully, he realized that he actually had been.

The difference was that his Soul Ring had been six hundred years old, while Tang Shan's was over a thousand.

As Tang Shan broke through, a considerable wave of Soul Power spread from him. Su Haichao, who was standing guard nearby, felt his eyelid twitch. Just how many levels had Tang Shan gained?

As the breakthrough continued, the Soul Ring's purple glow gradually faded until it was fully absorbed.

Phew!

Tang Shan slowly emerged from his cultivation state, a flash of gold passing through his eyes.

He stretched without thinking. His bones cracked in a rapid series, and every joint felt as smooth and comfortable as though it had been oiled.

He stood, setting off another series of cracks in his legs. With his Martial Soul active, he now stood about 1.83 meters tall.

His skin glowed with health, and his sharply defined build looked lean, powerful, and strong.

When he withdrew his Martial Soul, Tang Shan found that he was still 1.7 meters tall. By appearance alone, he looked little different from a young adult.

"How did the absorption go?"

Though Su Haichao already knew the answer, he could not resist asking.

"Better than ever. My body is bursting with vitality, and the bottleneck holding back my Soul Power is completely gone."

As he spoke, Tang Shan threw a casual punch. His bones and sinews rang together, and the air burst around his fist.

Bright Force seemed easier to produce. It felt as though his aptitude for martial arts had improved, or perhaps his Body Martial Soul had fused more deeply with his body.

"What about the Soul Skill?"

Su Yuntao was curious.

Tang Shan smiled with satisfaction.

"The Soul Skill is excellent."

He activated Martial Soul Possession. His body swelled, and the sole Purple Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed.

In the next instant, Tang Shan's hands expanded rapidly. In the blink of an eye, his arms grew as thick as thighs.

Blue-black veins rose across them, and immense power surged beneath the knotted muscles.

His five fingers were as thick as carrots, with blue-black tendons extending to their tips.

He clenched his fist. The air burst in his palm, sending currents whipping around his hand.

His palm had grown several sizes too. One hand alone could easily engulf a person's entire head.

"I'll test its power."

Tang Shan walked up to a tree as thick as a bowl and seized it with his right hand.

Crack!

The veins tightened like little snakes. The strength of his entire arm flowed perfectly into his palm, and cracks instantly spread across the trunk.

He released it, found a pine tree thick enough for one person to wrap their arms around, and punched.

There was no burst of air, only a faint sound of breaking wood. Tang Shan's massive fist was buried in the trunk, with only his wrist visible outside it.

The three men watching in silence drew sharp breaths. If such a terrifying punch struck a person, the result would be horrifying.

All three had keen eyes. Even without feeling the blow themselves, they could tell there was more to that fist buried in the tree than met the eye.

"Is this a physical enhancement? What a terrifying Soul Skill! If a Body Martial Soul can grant something this absurd, who would dare call it a Trash Martial Soul again?"

Su Yuan could not help exclaiming.

Su Haichao and Su Yuntao exchanged a glance. Neither contradicted him, though they both knew that the First Soul Skill Tang Shan had planned was not an enhancement skill at all.

Tang Shan looked at Su Yuan and nodded with a smile.

"Uncle Su, you're right. It is an enhancement skill. But it isn't limited to my hands—it can enhance my whole body."

As he spoke, his hands returned to normal, while the muscles around his chest and neck rapidly swelled.

"I call this ability Muscle Enhancement. I can enhance the muscles anywhere on my body. If someone attacks a vital spot like my neck or heart, I can greatly strengthen the surrounding muscles to protect it."

"Excellent! As expected of a Soul Skill from a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. It can attack and defend!"

Su Yuan was stunned by its power. No wonder Grandmaster wanted a Soul Master with a Body Martial Soul as his disciple. Body Martial Souls truly had their strengths.

Tang Shan stopped channeling the Soul Ring, released Martial Soul Possession, and took a fresh set of clothes from his Storage Ring.

He had shot up in height after absorbing the Soul Ring, and testing his Soul Skill had finished off his old clothes.

Fortunately, Tang Shan had anticipated how much this breakthrough might change him and had prepared several sets in larger sizes.

After he changed, Su Haichao took a new tent from his storage bracelet. Their previous tent had been lost in the fight. It was still deep night, so they would have to wait until morning to continue searching for Soul Beasts.

This time, to avoid attracting more Soul Beasts, the four ate a little dried food and went back to their tents to rest.

Su Yuntao was already asleep. Tang Shan lay awake, thinking over what he had gained from the breakthrough, thoroughly pleased.

First Soul Skill, Self-Control: increases control over one's own body to 20%.

The description sounded ordinary, but its true effect was outrageous.

The skill brought his control to 20%; it did not increase his existing control by 20%. The difference was enormous.

If perfect control of the body was 100%, reaching 20% meant achieving one-fifth of it outright. A 20% increase, on the other hand, would only build on whatever control Tang Shan already had.

What he had shown Su Yuan was merely the tip of the Soul Skill's power.

At 20% control, he could barely extend it to both hands, yet the force he unleashed was already frightening.

At that moment, his hands had been equivalent to those of a practitioner who had attained Seeing the Divine, Imperishable in a National Arts novel. Every way of applying force would have been second nature; Bright Force, Hidden Force, and even Transformed Force would have been child's play. Unfortunately, Tang Shan had not truly reached Seeing the Divine, nor did he possess that level of control throughout his body. Otherwise, that punch would not have made even a faint sound. It would have pulverized the section of the tree he struck.

Even an Elixir Force expert could crush iron into clay without making a sound, let alone someone who had truly attained Seeing the Divine, Imperishable—the pinnacle of developing the human body.

The most incredible use of this Soul Skill was not combat, but cultivation.

With it, he could gain control over his body step by step, until that control reached 100%.

Would the Soul Skill still work then? Once he had complete control of himself, could he control other things?

Could he control his Soul Rings? If so, could he cultivate them deliberately?

He did not know. But even if he could not, the First Soul Skill's extraordinary effect alone made the past year of hard work worthwhile.

The Martial Soul's boost to my strength has clearly increased too. Looks like seeking out a strength-type Soul Beast was the right choice.

Recalling the greater power that had surged through him during Martial Soul Possession, Tang Shan looked forward to his future all the more.

If I keep adding Soul Rings, could I eventually push my strength to the very limit?

P.S. The protagonist has successfully broken through. Once he returns and sorts through what he has gained, he should set off on a new journey. His First Soul Skill will play an even more outrageous role in the future. Please bookmark, vote, and comment—any support is welcome!